


Take Me Out

by EmilyBea



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 20:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13748343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilyBea/pseuds/EmilyBea
Summary: Reader requested college AU oneshot (originally in my mixtape collection on FF and tumblr) where Emma and Killian are lab partners and she’s been waiting for him to get his shit together and ask her out, but it’s the final class of the semester and Emma has grown tired of waiting. Inspired by the song ‘Take Me’ by Aly and AJ.





	Take Me Out

Distraction had never been a word in Emma Swan’s vocabulary. In the past it had been synonymous with missed opportunities and the risk of failure, two things she couldn’t ever abide by. As a foster kid who was always aware that the cards were stacked against her, Emma had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get the basics that so many others took for granted. As a result she’d always been driven and determined, with her eye on the prize of graduation and a more stable life than the one she’d known as a child.

Sure, there were plenty of people and things that had tried to lay claim to her attention, but Emma never paid any of them any mind. Everything was compartmentalized in her world. Her best friends, who she really did love so much, knew the score and never tried to interfere with Emma’s hard work and sacrifice, and everyone else… well they never really seemed to matter. She didn’t give anyone the power to get in her head or stand in her way, but recently there had been one person who was proving harder and harder to keep in the relatively small box where he _should_ belong.

The guy in question’s name was Killian Jones and he was her Advanced Chemistry I lab partner. He was also certifiably hot, had an accent that made girls the campus over weak in the knees, and a smile that tilted up just to one side, making his already bright blue eyes all the more entrancing. In a word he was trouble, but try as she might to resist his charm, Emma was just as taken in as everyone else seemed to be because that was how Killian was. He might be cocky and sarcastic and a jock (god save her), but he was also smart and kind and thoughtful, and after a few days of fearing that she’d been sentenced to a terrible semester, Emma had spent the last couple of months falling a little bit more for Killian Jones every day.

“Hard to believe this is our last class together, love.”

The words were undoubtedly Killian’s, and Emma didn’t even need to turn around to know it was him, but her eyes couldn’t stop themselves and she glanced over to find him looking just as gorgeous as he did every other day. God, didn’t he see how unfair that was? Here she was trying to go about her business and get the perfect grades she needed for a med school scholarship, and meanwhile he was just so… Killian. It was infuriating in a way, but more than anything it was exciting and wild and felt oh so very needed in Emma’s pretty dull and boring life.

“You mean this is the end of the chemistry line for you?” Emma teased back, finding her voice as she always did even though it was hard when her pulse raced as fast as it did around him. “And here you were just starting to get good.”

“Only _just_ starting?” He asked with a grin, making her stomach flip and those butterflies spastically flutter around inside her chest. “I think you and I both know I’ve been a master of chemical equations and elemental interactions for quite some time, Swan.”

“I’m just saying, there’s always Advanced Chemistry II in the spring…”

“Trust me, love, if there were any way to take the class and graduate on time it’d be you and me right here same time next semester.”

“Oh right, because it’s not enough for you to be soccer captain, you needed your fancy economics degree too,” Emma joked, though she was actually really impressed that he was more than some airhead who wanted to coast through school on his looks and charisma alone. “Speaking of, you never told me how you ended up in this class. Seems kind of out there for an econ major.”

At that question Emma swore she saw the faintest trace of a blush on his cheeks and Killian moved to scratch behind his ear, a tell that Emma had picked up on that gave him away as being less than comfortable. Unknowingly she’d just stumbled on some big thing, but she couldn’t imagine what it was. Now her curiosity was exponentially growing, but she had to wait on him to fill her in, in the meantime keeping busy with the lab before them.

“You want the truth?” Killian asked and Emma looked up, nodding immediately. She had a thing about lying after all, and to this point one of her favorite things about Killian was that he never lied. He was honest with her and that honesty had set a foundation of trust Emma rarely allowed herself to establish with strangers. “It was a mistake, love. I entered the wrong class by one digit in registration, and I didn’t realize my error until the first day of classes.”

“So why didn’t you just switch?” Emma asked, confused as to why he would stay, but the look in Killian’s eyes just then, the one that said he was feeling so much that almost didn’t need to be said took her breath away. It wasn’t the first time Emma had seen this look either. They’d been dancing around this attraction for weeks, and she wondered if this would truly be the moment where they crossed that line. Oh how she wished it would be.

“Because by some stroke of luck I got partnered with you, and only a fool would turn a chance like that down, minimal prior knowledge of chemistry or not.” 

Emma thought back through the early days of their partnership and she tried to understand what Killian was saying. He was claiming that he’d stayed in a class he had no expertise in for her, and she could tell given that super power of hers that he was serious. There were also signs that she’d just overlooked of that lack of knowledge being present. There were obvious questions he wasn’t so well versed in at the start of all of this, but he’d always been ready and willing to learn and soon enough there was no gap between them. Emma had just thought he needed time to get into the swing of the semester. She never imagined he was learning all of this just to stay close to her. Even if she suspected that he liked her too, it never crossed her mind that he’d go to all these lengths to impress her or stay close to her. She was really touched by that, and she wanted to find the right words to tell him how much that meant to her and how she was glad he hadn’t left when Killian filled the silent space between them once more.

“Look, Emma, there’s something I’ve been trying to say to you from the start,” he said quickly, moving so he was standing only an inch or so away from her. His eyes were locked on hers and with how close they were now Emma could feel the heat between them and that ever-present rush Killian always brought, but she was struck still by a need to know what he was going to say. “God I’ve already gone and made a mess of this. It’s just that I was wondering if, well, maybe, perhaps you might –,” 

In an almost tragically timed turn of events their professor chose exactly that moment to interrupt by calling the attention of the whole class, reiterating an infuriatingly straight forward part of this final project and telling everyone things that they already knew. Usually Emma wouldn’t be so mad about that, but right now she knew – she could just feel it way down in her bones – that Killian was finally going to make his move. Because of that it felt like forever to wait for their instructor to finish speaking, but when he did Emma didn’t want to forget the moment they’d been on the cusp of just before.

“So… you were saying something earlier?” She asked, looking back over at Killian and finding him looking even more flustered than he had been before when he was stumbling with his words.

“Oh, right. It was nothing, love. Forget I said anything.” 

_Forget he said anything?!_ How was she supposed to do that? Had she had it wrong all these weeks and read too much into all of this? Maybe she wasn’t as astute an observer as she once thought, but either way the sinking pit in Emma’s stomach at that moment was so severe she suddenly felt an old instinct that hadn’t kicked in in a long time. All of a sudden she felt like the only thing to do was run, and so she did. She grabbed her stuff, avoiding eye contact with Killian as she did, she made a barely there excuse to her professor, knowing that she and Killian had had this project done weeks ago, and fled from the classroom, not letting herself think or process any of what just happened. She just kept moving, not at a sprint but a walk too brisk for comfort. Emma didn’t even know where she was going, but then she was stopped eventually by a familiar voice.

“Emma? What the hell are you doing here, don’t you have class?” The voice belonged to her best friend and roommate Ruby Lucas and Emma heeded her friend’s call, slowing to a stop and finding that she was all the way across campus now when she hadn’t meant to be. She tried for a moment not to look at Ruby, knowing her friend would read in a second that something was wrong, but there was no fighting it. Ruby always sniffed the truth out sooner or later. “Emma what happened?”

In minutes Emma had filled Ruby in on the whole tale, not bothering to hide from the more embarrassing details, but while Ruby was patient and empathetic and understanding, she did interrupt Emma at one point. “Wait, so you just left? Why didn’t you say something? Hell, why didn’t you just kiss him already?!”

“Are you serious?” Emma asked, looking around to make sure no one had overheard Ruby’s yelled out advice. “He said it was _nothing_ , Ruby.”

“Oh, Emma,” Ruby said shaking her head and leading Emma by the arm back in the direction of the dorms. “That is not what he meant and you know it. That boy is in love with you. He would never do anything to purposefully hurt you.”

“Ruby-,”

“No! No interruptions. You talked and I listened, now you listen while I talk. Anyone with two eyes and a brain in their head can tell that the two of you are crazy for each other. Neither of you is making any attempt to hide that fact, and if you are, then honey you desperately need a new poker face.” Emma groaned at the thought that everyone knew her feelings as Ruby pressed on, not lingering in that line of thought. “You picked a good one, Ems. Killian is smart and funny and obviously like stupid hot, but there is one thing about the man that your heart decided on that’s less than pristine. And do you know what that is?”

“Uh, he’s a jock?” Ruby rolled her eyes at that and ignored Emma’s attempt at a joke.

“He’s incapable of making a move, probably because he’s so busy thinking the world of you that he can’t get the words out. Meanwhile you’re fabulous but guarded. You’re cool as a cucumber until your heart gets thrown in the mix and since you like him you’re just as chicken as he is. Well that ends tonight. We are going to that totally cliché winter ‘dance’ the athletics teams are sponsoring and we are fixing this once and for all. We’ll call it Operation Get the Guy.” 

“Oh God please no code names,” Emma said even as she felt a little stirring of hope in her chest. “But do you mean it, Ruby? You really think he’s into me?" 

“Emma, I have always prided myself on having the smartest best friend on this campus. Don’t make me question you now,” Ruby said as means of reply, and somehow, despite everything Emma found herself laughing, feeling like maybe this could actually be okay in the end despite how forlorn she’d been only a little while ago.

…………….

The last place in the world that Killian wanted to be was at this stupid dance. Every year the teams across campus came together to throw it for God knew what reason. On paper it was a fundraiser, but in actuality it was a mess of a night requiring him to be in a totally different state of mind. This was a party atmosphere, and all he felt was wracked with worry and guilt and anger at himself. He should never have handled things as he did with Emma today. One second things were great and the next he was making an ass of himself in front of the girl he loved and she was gone, leaving so fast that by the time he’d raced out after her he’d lost track of where she’d gone or where she was heading.

Why had he been so bloody foolish? He’d been halfway to asking her out after a semester spent biding his time and feeling things out, and then when she’d looked at him, open and ready and clearly willing to hear whatever words he’d been ready to say he choked. He’d said it was nothing, never imagining that Emma would really have gathered his intentions, but then that look of hurt in her eyes had appeared and it had been like a knife to the heart. Never in his life did Killian want to be the cause of that kind of pain for Emma. He wanted to be for her what she was for him, a bright spot in an otherwise chaotic and stressful world and color in the dull and drab state of normal he’d been in the past few years. Emma was a breath of fresh air and his surest sense of comfort on the best and worst of days, but today he’d brought her pain and for that he’d never forgive himself.

“You could at least try to stop scowling, man. Seriously I think you’re starting to scare people.”

Killian looked over at his best mate David wanting to tell him to fuck off with his ideas of brightening his mood but he didn’t. Killian knew David had the best intentions, but right now he didn’t want the sage counsel of a friend who already had the girl he wanted at his side. Killian wanted a chance to make things right with Emma, and proof that he could mend this broken thing between them. Only then would he be able to shake off this mood, and not a minute sooner.

“You’re lucky he turned up at all,” their friend Graham said with a wry grin and a shake of his head like he pitied Killian’s current state of affairs. “I had money in the pool Will made that he’d skip out to keep looking for her.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” David said then with a sense of confidence that drew Killian’s interest. David knew something that Killian didn’t and he wanted to know what it was, thankfully his friend filled in without delay. “I told Killian to trust me and he did. Now he’ll be here when Emma shows up.”

“Emma’s coming here?!” Killian asked, straightening himself up and now hoping that scowl was no longer present. The last thing he needed was Emma to see him looking so monstrous when his intentions with her with the complete opposite of beastly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m telling you now,” David said calmly as his smile reappeared. “Besides, I told Mary Margaret I’d keep it secret.

“You went back on a promise to Mary Margaret?” Graham said with a low whistle. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“ _Technically_ it wasn’t a promise,” David acknowledged swiftly, “and I held out as long as I could but look at him he’s a wreck,” David said waving his hand in Killian’s direction. “Besides, Mary Margaret loves a good happy ending. She’ll forgive me when it all works out.”

Killian wanted to believe with the same apparent certainty that things would turn out all right between him and Emma, but it was hard to have such a faith built up when the woman in question was so remarkable. Emma was completely and totally out of Killian’s league and he’d known from the first moment. He didn’t deserve her, he probably never could, but damn how he’d tried to be the kind of man who did. And he would keep trying from here on out if there were even the smallest chance that she could come to care for him the way he cared for her.

Some might call him crazy for feeling so strongly about a girl he’d only known a few months, but Killian didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. He was a firm believer that some things were just right for him, and Emma Swan… well she fit into his world and somehow expanded it all at once. She made him see things, made him feel things, and then on top of everything she was the most gorgeous creature who had ever lived. Of course he was going to be madly in love with her. She was the whole package and so much more and he was just frustrated it had taken more than three years at this university to find her since this school was so bloody big. Not that it mattered though – seemed even when luck was on his side he still had the ability to damn it all to hell. Why should Emma even give him a chance after all the bumbling about he’d done? Lord knew she deserved better.

“Well will you look at that... She did come after all.”

Graham’s observation had Killian turning as quick as he could and then he found her in the crowd, and his heart nearly stopped. Jesus, she was even more gorgeous now than her usual perfection and that dress… that little red number was the stuff of fantasy he wasn’t even nearly creative enough to conjure. Every curve of her body was enhanced and accentuated like the damn thing had been painted on her. Her hair, which was usually up when they were in class was hanging loose around her shoulders, curled and shining with its golden tint, and it looked so soft that all Killian wanted was to run his hands through it as he kissed her senseless. But of everything it was Emma’s eyes that held him captive, and when they found him across the room he felt time stop. This was a moment of reckoning, but where he expected her to run again or turn from him, instead she only raised a brow in challenge as she bit back a smile on her cherry colored lips.

This time there was nothing like hesitation on Killian’s part and he didn’t stick around to hear whatever his friends might have to say by means of a pep talk. He just cut through the sea of people until he was in front of Emma, and when he was there he nearly pulled her into his arms without so much as a word, but at the last moment he caught himself and instead went with a more normal greeting.

“Swan, you look…”

“I know,” Emma said with the same flirtatious confidence that he’d grown to love all these months when they were partners. “Look Killian, I think we should talk… maybe somewhere a little more private?”

Killian whole heartedly agreed with that assessment, and reflexively he took her hand, trying and failing to ignore the rush of warmth that came at the contact as he maneuvered their way out of the auditorium and to a hidden hall no one else had thought to come to yet. It wasn’t nearly enough he knew, but right now it was the closest thing to real solitude that they could have.

“Better?” he asked Emma and she nodded gently.

“Yeah, much. No offense, but dances aren’t really my scene.”

“Mine either, but I can’t lie and say I’m not damn glad to see you here, love,” Killian said as he ran his thumb over the hand he was still holding in his. Then before he could sink to cowardice again he told Emma the truth. “I went to your dorm earlier. I assumed after everything you must have gone there, but you never came back and then I thought… well I don’t know what I thought…”

“You were worried about me?” Emma asked, looking a bit surprised even as she let loose a smile and at the hope in her eyes Killian felt compelled to confess everything to her as he took her hands in his. 

“Aye, I was worried, worried I’d managed to ruin the best part of my world with one careless statement. What I was trying to say before – what I’ve been trying to say since the start – is that I care about you, Emma. Not just as a lab partner or a friend, but as more. I look forward to the moments we’re together, and when we’re apart I find myself wishing I were back with you. You’ve done something to me, changed something in me, and, God I know it’s fast, but Emma Swan I think I love -,” 

Before he could get the words out, the space between them was eaten up by her forward motion and suddenly Emma’s lips were on his. She’d made the first move in the end, pulling him close for this embrace but Killian made the kiss his once it was started, demanding more from her and pouring in all the passion and longing and want he’d been feeling for months. By the time they pulled back they were both a bit dizzy from it, but Killian wanted only to steal her away and share more of such precious moments all night long.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Emma whispered against his lips and Killian felt struck with a sharp sense of doubt until Emma’s eyes flew open and she pulled him closer, clarifying what she meant. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I only meant that I had a plan when I was walking in here. Things were supposed to go a specific way.”

“Were they, love?” Killian asked, blissfully happy that he had this girl in his arms and willing to do anything to stick to her plan and make her happy in turn. “Well I take it the first item on the agenda was pushing me right to the edge with this particular ensemble. You know you cut quite the figure in this dress, Swan.”

Emma rolled her eyes but he could feel her laughter as she did and the warmth of her fingers dancing along his jaw. “No. Well, kind of. The first thing was supposed to be getting you to finally ask me out.”

“Go out with me,” he said immediately and Emma laughed again.

“When?”

“Any time, all the time. My heart’s already yours love, and any time we share together will only make that more apparent.” Killian saw the surprise return to Emma’s features as he said those words, but this time he wouldn’t make the same mistake. He wouldn’t turn from the intensity of his emotions or play it off at the risk of rejection. The only way to do this was to be totally honest with her, and that was what Killian intended to do. “I love you, Emma. And maybe we’ve done things out of order, but I wouldn’t change it for anything, because loving you is an honor I cherish too much.”

“You love me?” Emma asked, her voice barely a whisper and Killian nodded. “Good. Because I think I might just love you too.” 

With that, Emma and Killian spent the rest of the night and the weeks and months there after making up for lost time. And luckily for the two of them, their love would have years and years to grow and flourish, and some day this story of how they’d finally come to be together would be yet another bright spot in a long and happy life spent filled with love, light, and yes, a fair amount of good distraction.

 ………………..

_I've been spending my attention on you, on you_

_I don't wait long 'cause I got better things to do_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_Make a move and make it now_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_So much talking, swear that's all you ever do_

_Show me something before I show something to you_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_Make a move and make it now_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_I know that you would want it_

_If I could sink my teeth into you_

_I know that you would want it_

_If I could sink my teeth into you_

_First you gotta ask me out_

_I've been spending my attention on you_

_I don't wait long 'cause I got better things to do_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_When you gonna take me out?_

_I know that you would want it_

_If I could sink my teeth into you_

_I know that you would want it_

_If I could sink my teeth into you_

**_Post-Note: So thank you very much to the multiple readers who have asked me to do more college AUs. I wrote ‘Like You Do’ so long ago, but it was really one of the first multi-chapters I ever wrote and as such it has such a special place in my heart. Writing this kind of felt like slipping back into that universe and I am so happy to have had the chance. Anyway, hope that you all enjoyed, and rest assured there are more mixtape chapters coming eventually. Thank you all for reading and hope you’re enjoying a great and awesome start to your new year!!_ **


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